Roleplay--

One moment, Ceri had been getting off the shuttle to enter the Grey city, and the next, she was falling. She hadn't heard the explosionn, or even really felt it. Perhaps she had lost consciousness as it hit, and had regained it as she fell through the air. It didn't matter.

Up above she watched as a fleet of ships bombarded the City in the sky, rubble and people being thrown in all directions and now hurtling towards the wasteland below. She had always wanted to go to the ground. It was forbidden, not to mention impossible for the lower races to go down there, but it seemed she would actually get her chance. She was probably about to die but, it beat dying at home she supposed.

She looked over her shoulder to see how far from the ground she was. She estimated that she must have been about half way between the ground and the floating city, but it was hard to tell. With some effort she rolled herself, so she was facing the ground. She had no magic to slow herslef and no hope that she would be rescued. The most she could do was look for somewhere to land that woukd break her fall.

She was directly above a lake at the moment so that was obviouly not an option. However not to far to her left was a small wood, with tall trees, rising far up from the ground. With no better option she directed her body to fall towards that direction. Once she was certain she was on course, Ceri crossed her arms over her face, rolled back over so she was facing the sky and braced herself.

The wind was rippling through her hair as she sped towards the ground one moment, then in an instant it changed to the breaking of branches as she tore through the folliage. The first few branches she barely even felt, twigs that may as well have not even been there. Then she got to slightly thicker branches and it really started to hurt. They still broke easily at the speed she was travelling, but each one was like a kick or punch to the back of her body. She grit her teeth through the pain, noticing that she was in fact slowing her fall.

Next thing she knew her shoulder connected with a branch that didnt give out, shooting pain all along that side of her body and causing her to roll and face the ground again. In that brief instant she was almost on the ground, before colliding with one of the lowest branches with her chest. The air was knocked out of her and she went completely limp as she fell the last 10 feet to the ground, and  landed on her back.

She was gasping to regain her breath as she stared straight up, a single beam of light breaking the canopy above to shine down on her, leaves fluttering to the ground. It was only then it hit her that she had survived, whatever addrenaline in her system was wearing off.

Immediately she shot up to her knees  and retched and vomited onto the ground as the reality of what happened hit her. When she finally stopped, she was able to catch her breath and assess the damage she had taken. Her lip was bleeding and swollen, and the ring finger on her left hand was at an odd angle. Definitly not too bad in comparisson to her right shoulder, which had popped out of its socket, probably when she hit the branch just before landing. Only when she tried standing did she notice a branch, no thicker than an arrow had gone through her left calf; and although she could walk and nothing seemed broken, the wound burned whenever she put weight on that leg.

Before she could do anything else or asses her surroundings, a thunderous crash sounded to her left as rubble began to crash to the ground around her. She couldn't see through the trees how much was falling or where, so she sprinted back to the tree she landed besides and curled up under it.

She began laughing hysterically at the irony of it. She was on the ground, where she had always wanted to be but never thought it possible; had survived falling literally miles only to now realise that she could potentially die by having the house she grew up in fall from the sky and crush her. Damn that would be fucked up.

It was a few minutes before the bombardment ended. Ceri sat under the tree for a minute longer until the earth stopped shaking and silence settled. From the sound of it, at least half of the Grey City must have fallen from the sky. If that was the case, then there had to be more survivors.

She looked around at her surroundings; trees in every direction, miles of unexplored forest and wilderness. She could just disappeare into it. Lose herself in this new world and never look back. She felt it calling to her. She wanted it. But another part of her warned her off. There were survivors who might need her help. People she knew she could help. The forest would still be there when she got back she thought as she resolved herself to finding the other survivors.

She picked a small branch off the ground and placed it between her teeth, while taking long and steady breaths. She braced herself against the trunk of the tree and after a moment to prepare herself, jolted her arm back into its socket. She hadn't felt it come out, but she sure as shit felt it go back in, biting down hard on the branch as she did it. She muttered a few curses, letting the branch fall from her mouth before rolling her shoulder around. It clicked audiably a few times but it seemed to work just fine as far as she could tell.

The branch through her calf would be more difficult to treat. She had nothing with her that could close or sterilise the wound if she were to remove the branch so she settled for shortening it for now, leaving enough length to pull it out later, but so it wouldn't get in the way too much as she walked. Still walking would be difficult. Ceri looked around the area for a walking stick testing a few out before settling on one just slightly taller than her. It took her weight well and made moving a lot more comfortable.

She took one last look at her surroundings before heading off in the direction most of the rubble had fell. She took her time navigating the terrain. |With no path to follow the ground was uneven and she often had to climb over large roots or scurry under low hanging branches. It took almost 30 minutes for her to find a break in the trees.

As she cleared the tree line for the first time she finally understood how much damage had been done, far above what remained of the Grey city was burning. Less than half of it remained. The other islands were intact as far as Ceri could tell. In the clearing in front of her debris was everywhere. It was impossible to tell what was what, like someone had taken apart a jigsaw and scattered the pieces. Bodies were strewn everywhere,most dead or already dying, there were very few Ceri could see who were concious.

She made her way to the edge of the chaos when she noticed a Fae boy leaning against the rubble. She hadn't seen him as she approached, but it seems he hadn't noticed her either. His breathing was ragged. Was he hurt?

'Are you okay? Are you hurt?' she called out as she carefully made her way over to him.

The Fae seemed determined to play down how much discomfort he was in, but wasn't doing a very good job at it. Now closer to him, she noted his white hair and short horns, and his yellow, cat-like eyes. He was unlike any Fae she had seen before.

She found him calling her 'mouse' peculiar. He may have been tall for a fae, but she certainly wasn't short either. Still she wasn't going to over think it, taking his hand and pulling herslef up to him. His grip was strong and he didnt seem to have any obvious injuries; yet his breathing was still shallow. perhaps it was all the dust from the debris crashing down, but she couldn't be sure yet.

Asking her about a sword was suprising. Given the situation, she would think the fae would have much different priorities. That is when he noticed the branch that had impaled her leg, and bent down to examine it. From the way he spoke, it seemed he knew how to treat her wound, but he tried to use the knowledge as a bargining chip to rope her into finding his sword. What is with this kid and his sword?

'My leg will be fine for now,' she said, shifting her weight onto her staff. ''There are other people who need the help more; your sword can wait for now. Let me see your chest,' she said, reaching for his body with her other arm. She ran a hand carefully up each side of his ribs, and noticed the bottom two on his right side had broken and moved out of place.

'Let me set your ribs for you, and then we can help the others.'

Ceri considered what he had said; perhaps those who had survived the fall were capable of taking care of themselves. But surely there must be more serious injuries than hers or the fae's. He still wanted to look for his sword. What was so important about the sword anyway? Its not like it could walk off on its own.

He asked her to reconsider but she was hardly listening at that point. If he wasn't going to help she would have to do what she could by herself. Another piece of rubble had made its way down, and Ceri was just able to follow its path as it slammed into the earth, and a few of the survivors.

Maybe he was right, going into the drop zone could be suicide, and she didn't really expect that anyone would do the same for her. She wasn't them though, and she knew she could be of help. Was there really anymore she needed to know?

'Be careful with your ribs,' she said as she climed down, making her way into the wreckage. 'Bandage them up when you get the chance and rest, your breathing will get easier in a day or two.' She began checking bodies for signs of life as she walked, leaving the fae at the edge of the blast zone.

She ignored his calls as she wandered deeper into the field of debris, checking bodies as she went. The fae was probably right. It was unlikely she would find many survivors, if any, but it wouldnt sit right with her if she didn't try. Still, for someone who was adamant noone could be saved, he was still following her.

Up ahead she caught sight of a figure waving frantically, kneeled down by some rubble. Without a second thought she picked up her pace and hurried over.

'please, please, help me,' the human, who had a nasty cut on her head, called as she got closer. 'There are children trapped down there, please help us!'

As Ceri got closer she could see the children through a break in the rubble, and began looking for a way to get them out. There were no holes small enough for them to squeeze through, it seemed she would have to move the rubble. Ceri climed towards the back of the largest rock and wedged her staff under it. If she could roll it off, the children would have room to escape.

She began using her staff for leverage, putting her weight on it and trying to shift the rock.